In a country that faces housing shortage of 18.78 million units ( Census 2011) nearly 11 million housing units are lying vacant as there are not enough takers. Is it not ironical?

Rental housing schemes are a possible answer to this pressing concern. With the Union Budget 2013-14 around, affordability in the housing sector seems to be major issue that policymakers need to address. However, it needs to be seen if rental housing schemes would form a part of the budget discussion.

"Rental Housing scheme is a good way to overcome the acute housing shortage that prevails in India today as it offers a low cost option to those unable to afford a home for themselves," claims Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director, South Asia, Cushman and Wakefield. He adds, "The upcoming budget needs to encourage development of rental housing in the affordable housing segment by setting up public 'Housing Associations' (HA) that construct, own, operate and manage the rental housing units. The necessary funding could be either provided through budgetary allocations or with the Credit Guarantee Trust Fund, setup by the government last year, guaranteeing the loans taken by these HAs."

With a huge migrant population present in all the major metros today, availability of rented units has become a necessity. Reinforcing this fact Rajeeb Dash, marketing head, Tata Housing Development Co. Ltd says, "As in Mumbai where MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority) had introduced the rental housing scheme a few years back to provide a boost to affordable housing in the city, similar measures need to be introduced in other parts of the country and particularly in the metros. We hope the upcoming budget would come up with something on these lines to entice developers to take up rental housing."

The MMRDA scheme has attracted a lot of developers in Mumbai who came forward build units to be allocated on rent in return of extra FSI for their projects. "At present 54 developers in Mumbai are part of this scheme and 17 have almost completed construction of these units and would be handing it over to the MMRDA soon," says Uma Adusumilli, chief of Planning and Rental Housing Division, MMRDA. Almost 1 lakh rented units would be built by these 54 odd developers.

Similar schemes, if introduced in other parts of country, are expected to witness a positive response from the developers. Voicing his opinion on this, Manoj Gaur, MD, Gaursons Pvt Ltd says, "Getting extra FSI is a very lucrative offer for any developer as land costs are skyrocketing. At present we do get such incentives for low cost housing. I am not sure if the upcoming budget would lead to any such developments in Delhi NCR or any other city. However, if introduced, developers would welcome rental housing schemes with open arms."

It needs to be seen if Budget 2013 would throw up some surprises to push rental housing in the country by addressing concerns like infrastructure status and tax redemptions.